南开大学 外国语学院 美国文学 浪漫主义.doc

American Romanticism(1820-1860)As a literary trend or movement, Romanticism, occurred and developed in Europe & America at the turn of the 18th & 19th centuries under the historical background of the Industrial Revolution around 1760 & the French Revolution (1772-1829). Romanticism marked the reaction in literature, philosophy, art, religion, and polities from the Neoclassicism （新古典主义）and formal orthodoxy （正统学说）of the past.RomanticismThe term ,Romantic, as a designation for a school of literature opposed to the Classic was first used by the German critic Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829) at the beginning of the 19th century. Romantic AttitudesStressing individual & creative function of imagination.Placing individual at the very center of all life and all experience and at the center of art.Time RangeFrom the end of the 18th century through the outbreak of the Civil War.Social BackgroundIndustrial & urban society -Economic boom: 1. Industrialism optimism 2. Immigration and hope 3. Westward expansion among peopleCharacteristics1. A rebellion against the objectivity of rationalism2. The feelings, intuitions(直觉），emotions more important than reason &common sense.3. Believing the world as a living, breathing being: the close relationship between man& nature; nature as a revelation of truth, living garment of God, suitable subject for true art.4. Emphasizing individualism : individual against group, authority; emphasizing personal freedom & freedom from formalism (形式主义）& tradition .5. Affirming the inner life of the self: each person free to develop & express own inner thoughts.6. Cherishing strong interest in the past, esp. the medieval （中世纪）7. Attracted by the wild, irregular, indefinite, remote, mysterious & the strange8. Interested in variety: typical forms of Romanticism ballad(民谣，通俗叙事诗歌）, lyric （抒情诗）, sentimental comedy, problem novel, historical novel, gothic romance, critical essay9. Cultural nationalism national literature10. Ceased to be primarily didactic (说教）Special FeaturesAmerican Romanticism was both imitative and independent.Imitative: English and European RomanticistsIdeas inherited from the romantic traditions of Europe - Historical romances by Europeans, esp. Sir Walter Scott, “the monarch & master of modern fiction”Themes: home, family, nature, children and idealized love, etc.Independent: Irving, Poe, Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau and WhitmanNational literature: reflecting New World environment, American themes, vast panoramas of American scenes, American lives Themes: major problems of American life, like the westward expansion and democracy and equality, etc.重要人物：Washington Irving (1783-1859)“Father of American Imaginative literature”“Father of the American short story”1. Works纽约外交史A History of New York by Diedrich Knickerbocker (1809): -A current history of the early Dutch settlers, a classic of humor-written under the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker-a great success and won him wide popularity. -His first book 见闻札记The Sketch BookRip Van Winkle/ The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 瑞普 凡 温克尔/ 睡谷的传说-With the publication of The Sketch Book, he won a measure of international recognition.布雷斯布里奇庄园Bracebridge Hall (1822)戈尔德史密斯Oliver Goldsmith (1840)华盛顿传Life of George Washington (1855-1859) 2. Evaluationu Washington Irving was the first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame.u The short story as a genre in American literature began with Irvings The Sketch Book.u The Sketch Book also marked the beginning of American Romanticism.Rip Van WinkleOn Rip Van Winkle, Irving took suggestions from a German source. He changed the setting of the original and added conflicts of his own to make it American. It is a fantasy tale about a man who somehow steps out-side the main stream of life.Briefing of Rip Van Winkle Rip Van Winkle is a simple, good-natured, and hen-pecked man. He does everything except take care of his own farm and family. He helps everyone except his wife and his own folks. He is welcome everywhere except at home. But his wife does not leave him in peace (Rip may be, incidentally, the telescopic form of Rest in Peace). Mrs. Winkle keeps continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he is bringing on his family. Unable to stay happily al home, he finds refuge in the mountains, with his gun and dog as his companions.One afternoon he stays out late near the top of the mountain where he meets a group of odd-looking people playing at nine-pins(九柱球）. Out of curiosity, and being a thirsty soul，Rip drinks their wine and falls asleep. He wakes up to find his dog gone and his gun rusted. Back in his village he is amazed at the tremendous changes that have taken place in what he thinks is just one night. Old houses have vanished, and so have some of his old friends. In place of the former little inn, there stands the large Union Hotel, with a flag of stars and stripes fluttering in front of it. However, he is recognize by some of the old villagers and recognizes some of them. He discovers, to his great surprise, that he has slept for twenty years. His wife has died; his son, every bit his counterpart in appearance and personality , is now a farm hand, and his daughter, now a happy mother, takes him home to live with her. Having nothing else to do, he begins to live the way he did before.Instead of feeling happy about the country finally independent from the yoke of British colonial rule, Rip is pleased with his new life chiefly because he had got his neck out of the yoke of matrimony. The story might be taken as an illustration of Irvings argument that change - and revolution upset the natural order of things and of the fact that Irving never seemed to accept a modern democratic America.The Legend of Sleepy Hollow -The story takes place in Tarrytown, NY. Ichabod Crane, a lean, lanky, and extremely superstitious Schoolteacher, falls in love with the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and sole child of a wealthy farmer. Katrina has but another suitor-the muscular, strong, handsome Brom Bones, who brags about the number of fights he has fought, and runs around on strong horses with his gang, causing trouble and mischief. 男主人公：Ichabod Crane/ Brom Bones女主人公：Katrina Van Tassel-The Neighbourhood abounds with local tales, haunted spots & twilight superstitious:It is said to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannon-ball, in some nameless battle during the revolutionary war, and who is ever seen hurrying along in the gloom of night in quest of his head.When Crane was invited to a party at the Van Tassels house, he rode there, on a spirited horse called Gunpowder, that he borrowed from a friend.When he got to the Van Tassels house, everyone there sat down to dinner. After the lovely feast of Dutch food, the music began. Everyone danced about. Ichabod Crane danced with Katrina Van Tassel. Brom Bones sat in a corner glaring at the dancing couple. -Then everyone sat down to listen to stories. The tales were fascinating, haunting